It's never going to be easier than it is right now

April 18, 2005

KALAMAZOO--All Western Michigan University students, faculty,
staff and retirees who have not already gotten a new photo-ID
card are encouraged to get one during April at the temporary
card-processing center in Lawson Arena.

More than 11,200 students and about 1,350 employees--including
President Judith I. Bailey--were issued new cards during the
first four weeks of the campus re-carding campaign.

Through May 1, only old WMU ID cards will work in campus card-swipe
readers, and beginning May 2, only new cards will work. The urgency
for getting a new photo-ID varies. Those members of the university
community who use their existing card for building access or
for services in the libraries, dining halls, recreation center
and elsewhere, obviously have a more urgent need than those who
rarely or never use their current card.

"Even for people who aren't using their old ID card,
this is still the best time to get a new one," says Bob
Coffman of WMU's Department of Public Safety, who manages the
card center. "There's plenty of free parking around Lawson,
and most people are in and out with their new card in less than
five minutes. It's never going to be easier than it is right
now."

The ID card center at Lawson is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays
through Thursdays and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays, through the end
of May. In June, the card center returns to its normal home in
the Bernhard Center and will be open on a reduced summer schedule.

There are seven card-processing stations, where students,
employees and retirees are photographed and write their signatures
on an electronic pad. A new ID card, containing the photo and
signature, is created on the spot.

New cards are part of the university's switch from Social
Security numbers to Western Identification Numbers--or WIN--as
the primary way of identifying students and employees. The change,
which was mandated by the state, will provide greater protection
from identity theft.